The 10 Struggles Only Instagrammers Understand

Maybe you’re a hardcore instragrammer. Or maybe it’s your friend. Someone in your life is addicted to Instagram and they go through intense struggles to get the perfect #gramworthy picture. You may laugh at them but you will never understand the struggles they go through to make their gallery perfect. Here is an inside scoop on the very real struggles only instagrammers understand.

Thinking of a caption is a struggle and a half

Thinking of a caption that is captivating, witty, funny, and original gets hard after you have done so many. You sometimes opt for quotes or stories or sometimes get too lazy you just say you give up and put one that’s like “too lazy to think of a caption”. Secretly, even thinking of that caption was a struggle.

You know lighting is key

The worst is when you see something that you really want to Instagram but the lighting conditions just don’t make it possible. Any brightening you do just adds noise and distorts the image. You know natural lighting is the best but the sun just goes down way too fast. Why don’t you just use flash your friends ask. Your response? …*walks away* Flash is the devil.

Deciding what hashtags to use

You make sure you put your hashtags in a comment under your actual caption so any comments you get will eventually hide those hashtags. You wish Instagram would implement a checklist of most used tags so you could check them instead of having to type them individually. When someone comments before you’re done your hashtags, you die a little inside.

Like-backs and/or follow-backs

You try and like at least one photo back from every person that likes your photo but sometimes it’s just not possible. So you end up scrolling their feed and liking a picture from 56 weeks ago. Yea…not creepy at all. You also hate when followers only follow for follow-backs. Please, stop asking. I will follow you if I like your gallery.

Choosing a filter

This is the biggest decision you will make today. Actually, it probably won’t be because you don’t use filters. Valencia? Earlybird? Toaster? Oh no, #teamnofilter all the way. You are secretly judging anyone that uses any of these filters.

Having to wait to eat because of well, #foodporn

You may be starving but you have to take a picture #forthegram. Usually one picture is not enough so you end up spending 5-10 minutes composing the most aesthetically-pleasing candid photo. When your friends decide to eat their food before you can take a proper photo, you are consumed with sadness. They just don’t understand.

Shadows, unless intended, are the bane of your existence

When you want to take a flat lay but the shadow prohibits you to do so, you want to cry in frustration. This flat lay of your make-up and macarons would look so good if it were not for the obnoxious shadow of your arm and phone hanging over it.

When you try to straighten a picture but you’ve been staring at it for so long that it’s crooked no matter what

When the lines in the picture just don’t work but the picture itself is really cute. You’re doing whatever you can to straighten it out but something in the picture always seems off. You’re not sure if it’s the picture yourself, the lines, or you’ve just stared at it for so long that you can’t tell what’s straight anymore.

When you want to post something but it doesn’t go with your theme

If you’re an established instagrammer, you have started to have a specific look and feel to your gallery. Whether you’re minimalistic, a fashionista, or a foodie, you have specific photos that you are known for. Sometimes you just want to post a picture of your dog but it just doesn’t flow.

Having a really nice picture but it’s not a square

For some reason, your picture looks really good when it’s viewed in its entirety but the moment you decide to put it on Instagram, it looks like poop. You should probably always shoot in square mode but you like to leave your options open for cropping. The struggles, I tell ya. #doitforthegram #allforthegram